I know we've had a ton of long threads about the best writing software, so I'm not trying to assert any such thing here. However, there is a cool new collaboration and easy version control tool that I came across on Techcrunch and thought you guys might like to check out: Draft. It does backups and comparisons automatically, and (it claims) works with any online file repo you like (dropbox, google drive, etc).
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posted March 13, 201304:40 PM
I do collaboration and version control with my editing clients using the software in which the client is most proficient. They don't like to change programs or even learn new techniques. For my own products, a simple file name suffix by date works for me. HarpyDanTheMan031313.rtf. For example, medial case, no underscores or spaces, manuscript author last name, abbreviated title, date.

As far as I can tell without loading the Draft program, its features are similar to advanced applications of Word and WordPerfect.

Though eighty percent of the world uses Word, I favor WordPerfect for its Reveal Codes feature. Many's the headache and heartache Word's invisible formatting codes have caused my clients and my coworkers and the publication design and layout staffs I've worked with, complications which take me but a moment to overcome. And WordPerfect has the most universal cross-platform and cross-application compatibility in my experiences.

posted March 13, 201307:11 PM
From the days of DOS Wordstar forward, the truism has been that the best word processor is the one that you are most comfortable with. Whatever works for you is what you should use.

For me, I have very little faith in cloud computing. I cannot count the times that I have seen company servers go down, leaving dumb terminals all over the office dark and useless. The thought of leaving my personal files at the mercy of someone else's property, and at the mercy of someone else's respect (or lack) for my privacy makes me unhappy to say the least. 8,376 burned, twice shy.
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Tho what finally weaned me off WP5.1DOS was RoughDraft, primarily for its nice search function. And in a pinch, RTF can be edited in any text editor (RTF has a nasty habit of eating the text if the formatting tags get out of kilter).... so Reveal Codes is not entirely dead

posted March 18, 201310:28 AM
Thanks, Reziac. I'm not so enamored of Reveal Codes that I'd buy WordPerfect separately, but maybe I can ask that my next computer be partitioned with Word on one side and WordPerfect on the other, or something. They definitely don't play well together.

Edited to add: Yes, I see that this version of WP is Word compatible, but my experience with Word and WP on the same computer is that Word does something to the resources to make it hard to run WP (a deep-level incompatibility?)

Couldn't get Open Office to work when I installed it on my Word-dominated computer either, by the way.

If WP files can read Word files, however, and if this new WP can do "track changes" as well as "reveal codes," then maybe I wouldn't need a copy of Word at all.
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posted March 18, 201311:21 AM
KDW, have you tried LibreOffice recently? It's a branch of OpenOffice. A bunch of the programmers from the main project didn't like the direction it was going and split off. The base code started the same, but they spent a lot of time and effort peeling off the crap. It's faster and more stable than any version of OpenOffice I have used.

I am currently using version 4.01, both Writer and Draw, and I have no complaints. It's even compatible with Word 2000 as far as I can tell. I don't know about PowerPoint or Excel. I don't use the database either, so you would need to ask someone else.

But I have had no issues with transferring from Writer to Word 200, and back again. not since version 3.5 or something. Of course, I mainly use text only files. YMMV.
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posted March 18, 201312:02 PM
Track Changes is unfortunately a proprietary Word application; like Reveal Codes is a WordPerfect property. One of my other wordprocessor programs uses Reveal Codes under a license agreement.

I have both Word 2010 and WordPerfect 12 loaded on one of my laptops. They play well together. My other laptop, just WordPerfect 12 and a Word viewer. They play well together, too.

Attractive new features of WordPerfect X6 include full PDF software and publish to e-book, Mobi, Kindle, and other e-publishing apps. Corel expresses that WordPerfect X6 is fully compatible with and able to read and edit Microsoft Office Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents through WordPerfect, Presentations, and Quatro. I imagine that could include Track Changes in Word. Perhaps Corel has enhanced its licensing agreements with Microsoft. WordPerfect's compare documents, review, and redline methods have those functions anyway. And Corel advertises enhanced collaboration features for X6. I wonder what they might be.

I'm especially excited about the PDF and e-publish possibilities. If the PDF app allows for creating dynamic form fields and end user save filled in forms, I'm upgrading for that reason alone. Acrobat Distiller is a costly program for a standalone for the occasions I need the full suite. Contract and release PDF forms that can be sent as e-mail attachments, filled in on screen, saved to the end user's directory, and returned to sender have eased my publishing burdens enormously.

Now if someone would only carry e-commerce processes over the more daunting hurdles, I'd be heeled. E-commerce is still shy of my high expectations by its al la carte gateway and account clearing house fees and merchant account requirements. PayPal has come closest to streamlining the fees and processes so far. Major issues still to overcome: name-branding issues of PayPal's marketplace reputation, point of sale labeling on billing obscures vendor identification, and consumer reluctance to pay through handheld and remote point of sale terminals.

posted March 18, 201303:45 PM
Madam, far be it from me to use impolite language in the presence of a lady. But I beseech you not to use the "V" word in my online presence.
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quote:Originally posted by extrinsic:One of my other wordprocessor programs uses Reveal Codes under a license agreement.

Oooh, which word processor is this?

KDW: There was a time when Word would actively disable WordPerfect... in fact I caught Word4 in what looked suspiciously like a hunt-and-kill operation during install (it did a complete trawl through my C: partition). However, since I don't install anything in the default location, and Word's installer was none too bright, it couldn't locate WP (which was probably on F: on that box) and wasn't able to do anything naughty. The surefire workaround for this nonsense was to always install Word first, then WP, no problems that way.

Totally OT: Fun with SETVER:

F:\WINDOWS>setver

WINWORD.EXE 4.10EXCEL.EXE 4.10

And yes, this is WinXP, and it still has this. Why? Because for over a decade, Word and Excel had a stupid filehandles bug that depended on the matching bug in DOS4 (concurrent with WinWord v1) ... and said bug was infamous for corrupting files.
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quote:Originally posted by extrinsic:One of my other wordprocessor programs uses Reveal Codes under a license agreement.

Oooh, which word processor is this?

A stenography program that costs an arm, leg, ear, and first born offspring. I use it for making the bulk of my income copyediting and proofreading for court reporter clients.
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